Mercury (Hobart)

Killer driver vowed he would harm Muslims

- LEXIE CARTWRIGHT in London

A WELSH father-of-four accused of carrying out a terror attack outside a mosque in London was kicked out of his local pub the day before the attack after saying he would “do some damage” to Muslims.

Darren Osborne, 47, from Cardiff, who was not previously known to police, was being held yesterday after being arrested for the “commission, preparatio­n or instigatio­n of terrorism and attempted murder”.

He is accused of driving a rented white van on to a footpath and mowing down a group of worshipper­s at the Finsbury Park Mosque north London Monday.

An elderly man was pronounced dead at the scene, although it was not clear if his death was from natural causes or the van attack.

Eleven others were injured, including eight who were taken to hospitals in the area.

Osborne is alleged to have shouted “kill all Muslims” and “this is for London Bridge” — referring to the June 3 massacre in which eight people were killed — in the wake of the attack.

British media reported he had split from his partner, was unemployed and living in a tent in the weeks before he allegedly carried out the attack.

One regular at his local pub, in on yang blamed on a bout of food poisoning and which his family said was the result of him being “brutalised and tortured”.

Upon his death yesterday, there was US condemnati­on of Kim Jong-un’s regime ranging from President Donald Trump to the young college student’s family.

“The awful torturous mistreatme­nt our son received at the hands of North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad in Cardiff said: “He got chucked out as he was so drunk. He was cursing Muslims and saying he would do some damage.”

Police raided addresses in his home city of Cardiff, 160km from the scene of the attack, late yesterday. one we experience­d today,” Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement shortly after his death.

Mr Trump said: “It’s a brutal regime, and we’ll be able to handle it.

“A lot of bad things happened. But at least we got him home to be with his parents, where they were so happy to see him, even though he was in very tough condition,” he said.

Mr Warmbier was on college break from the University

In a statement released on behalf of his family, Mr Osborne’s nephew Ellis Osborne, said: “We are massively shocked; it’s unbelievab­le, it still hasn’t really sunk in. We are devastated for the families, our hearts go out to the people who have been injured.” of Virginia when he embarked on a short break organised by a Chinese travel company that promised “budget travel to destinatio­ns your mother would rather you stayed away from”.

He was detained by North Korean police and admitted to trying to steal a propaganda poster from his hotel room in tearful court testimony.

He was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour and there was no informatio­n or contact

Meanwhile, Londoners bearing flowers and messages of solidarity gathered outside the mosque.

After meeting with security officials, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed police believed the attacker acted alone. with him for more than a year.

Last week, he was medically evacuated and returned to the US in a coma, with severe brain damage.

Senator John McCain said Mr Warmbier “was murdered by the Kim Jong-un regime. In the final year of his life, he lived the nightmare in which the North Korean people have been trapped for 70 years: forced labour, mass starvation, systematic cruelty, torture, and murder”. TEARFUL: Warmbier at his trial

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Australia